Tuesday, September 2, 2014

The Drums of War Sound in the Deep!

The armies are marshaling their forces for war and the drums are beating throughout the Underdark! War is here, kids. War is here.

Without giving away their troop strengths or anything that might help their opposing players here are the introduction paragraphs that alerted each of the kingdoms' players that the troops were ready.

The Beholders

The three of you (+Anders Nordberg, +edchuk sockmonkey,
and Tom) represent the entirety of the Beholder Kingdoms! At this point
the Kingdom is equally divided amongst each and it will be up to you
whether these forces combine their efforts to destroy the filth
cluttering your dark landscape or wage a bloody civil war.

The Drow

The mighty and proud kingdom of the Drow has chosen three to lead them into the coming war: +Andrew Davis, +Gus L, and +Jarrod Shaw!
Will you unite under a single banner and crush the vile opposition or
will you let your kingdom's tradition of intrigue and fratricide brake
you into a civil war with each seeking to destroy the other?

The Duergar

Deep within the halls of the mighty Duergar the drums of war have begun
to sound as two generals have been chosen to lead their people against
the foul machinations of their neighbors: +James Aulds and +Mark Van Vlack!
Will these two generals unite their forces to grind their enemies
beneath their heels or will the allure of power drive a wedge between
them and cause them to paint the halls of their fathers with the blood
of their brothers?

The Mind Flayers

From across the endless realms of the multiverse and the infinite
expanse of space the Old Ones have stirred from their slumbers and
awakened two of the Elder Brains with a single thought, "The time is at
hand!" Now these two have brought the kingdom under their control and
have divided their forces between their cities. Will +Jim Haltom and +Nick Foster
be able to work together to crack the skulls of these lesser kingdoms
or will they be driven mad by the whispers of the Old Ones and wage war
against one and another?

The Svirfneblin

The rock trembles with the heavy footsteps of marching soldiers outside
the halls of the deep gnomes. War has come to the Underdark again, and
this one will not avoided. The Svirfneblin have sharpened their blades
and have left their holds; led by two of their greatest generals: +Mike Davison
and the Shadowplay! Will these generals be able to teach their enemies
the meaning of fear, or will they fall to bickering and destroy each
other before their enemies even have the chance?

It's pretty clear to me that I got more verbose with each call to arms. This is my first time doing one of these call-to-arms so I was experimenting with styles as I went. For me it was better when I got a bit more into building a (very limited) story for why they were going to war than when I was less descriptive.

What do you think? Was it better when I started getting a bit more into it or when I was more subdued? Which would you prefer if you were playing?

To my understanding, each faction composed of multiple power groups may either be working together or separately. If working separately, it requires an action to open negotiations -- and may or may not be imposed as a penalty if a consensus fails, or if there's open fighting or dissent within a faction.

I don't believe there are any hard restrictions on communications between players of different factions, and I understand Trash Talk is open and encouraged. There has all ready been quite a bit of that, lol.

Negotiations are also used to contact other Power Players in the Underdark other than players. We aren't currently aware of any, only that they exist as smaller, non-player factions.

It's difficult to tell what "hard" benefits may be derived from negotiations -- it may be that negotiations must be initiated even before one side declares war on another. *shrug*

It's designed to help facilitate formal negotiations between players of different kingdoms so that everyone knows that combat isn't the only option. As for other Underdark powers there are more races inhabiting the inky blackness of those caverns than just yourselves. I figured it might be fun if you could engage them and bring them into play.

Who That Talking Over Here?

I'm a blogger that talks about all my favorite hobbies - from video games, to comics, to rpgs, to poker, and everything in between. I can also throw more words on the page than a room full of crack smoking monkeys being guarded by trigger happy robots. And unlike those banana munching, tree swingers I actually make sense most of the time!